UT System and UTSA host seminar on academic entrepreneurship

(March 1, 2013) -- Academics from around the country will converge in San Antonio at the Institute of Texan Cultures on Friday, March 1 to learn how to establish and sustain university-based venture funds. The half-day seminar is hosted by the University of Texas System and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA).

"How to Start, Fund and Operate an In-House Academic Venture Fund" complements the Association of University Technology Managers Annual Meeting, Feb. 27-March 2 at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center. The half-day seminar at the Institute of Texan Cultures will draw nearly 100 academic venture fund, incubator, intellectual property and tech-transfer professionals. Scholars, venture capitalists and other stakeholders also are expected to attend.

"The UT Horizon Fund is the strategic venture fund of the University of Texas System and an emerging national center of excellence for technology commercialization," said Bryan Allinson. "We are excited to work with UT San Antonio to help advise universities all across the United States covering excellence in academic ventures, incubators and faculty and student relations."

The seminar will begin with lunch and a keynote address focused on academia's financial state. Diana Hoadley, managing director and head of the J. P. Morgan Securities Higher Education/Nonprofit Group, and Laura Powell, executive director at J. P. Morgan Securities, will deliver the keynote address.

Participants then will attend three consecutive panel discussions. The first panel discussion, presented by the UT System and UT System Horizon Fund, will address how to start, fund and operate an academic venture fund. Panelists will discuss how universities are increasingly including start-up companies as part of their technology commercialization strategy and how some progressive universities are forming or partnering with strategic venture funds. The panel also will explore successful models of academic venture funds.

The second panel, presented by the Austin Technology Incubator at UT Austin, will discuss how to start, fund and operate a university or community incubator. The success of university-based life sciences startup companies can be directly correlated to access to incubation services, which are numerous and vary by university and local entrepreneurial community. Panelists will explore successful incubation models to support early life sciences companies.

The final panel, presented by UTSA, will address the roles of faculty, student and administration in commercialization funds and incubators. Universities accelerating technology innovation and commercialization are tackling the issues surrounding faculty involvement in the process. Traditionalists view faculty researchers as precursors to the process, while transformative universities are viewing the commercialization activities as integral to faculty tenure and promotion. Panelists will address the issue and provide best practices.

"San Antonio has created a robust ecosystem to support biomedical and technology entrepreneurs, and UTSA is a significant part of that ecosystem," said Cory Hallam, director of the UTSA Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship. "It is our hope to share our best practices and engage in a dialogue with the members of the Association of University Technology Managers so we might all succeed in supporting commercialization activities at our respective institutions and companies."

"How to Start, Fund and Operate an In-House Academic Venture Fund" will be presented 11:45 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Friday, March 1 at the Institute of Texan Cultures, 801 E. Cesar Chavez Blvd., San Antonio, Texas, 78205. The program is sponsored by J. P. Morgan, University of Texas System, UT Horizon Fund, UTSA, UTSA Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship, UT Health Science Center San Antonio and South Texas Technology Management.

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